Chapter 27
CALLIE
It was a rare sunny afternoon in Nightshade Cove, and I’d left Maddox at the hotel to meet Brie at a gorgeous outdoor cafe.
Enchanted vines wove into the trellis above us, the colors of the leaves always shifting, morphing from one stunning painterly image to another.
I felt like I was inside a piece of living art.
Brie and I were each struggling to control our laughter as I wrapped up my account of last night’s visit from the idiot militiamen.
“Gods, those boys really are a few ingredients short of a potion,” Brie said.
I nodded in agreement. “You’re telling me.”
“But why did they target you?”
“Oh, it had nothing to do with us. The security office got the full story out of them. It’s just because we were in the last unit before the woods. They thought it would be easiest to escape from there after they’d ‘interrogated’ us.”
“Brilliant strategy,” Brie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I guess when your entire plan is ‘ask questions and then run into the forest,’ location is everything.”
“The funny thing is, I only requested the furthest room out to make Maddox work harder carrying the bags.”
“And then he had to work even harder, beating two men into submission. That must have been a fun bonus.”
I cleared my throat. “That wasn’t the only fun bonus, actually…”
“Oh?” She lifted her teacup.
“I had him go down on me.”
Brie choked a little on the tea she was sipping.
Before I could continue, a server appeared with our salads. I was impressed to see the greens on the plate were enchanted in sync with the vines above us, the salad’s colors changing in a way that complemented what was happening in the canopy.
As soon as the server was back out of earshot, Brie was all over me. “Oh my gods, tell me everything.”
So I did, unfolding the story of just how overcome I’d become watching Maddox crush two other men in full tactical gear while he was wearing only underwear.
“Yeah, I get that,” Brie said, and was I glad for the affirmation. “I mean, if you ignore his personality, he is a very attractive man.”
“I was worried you’d be disgusted I did anything with him again,” I confessed.
“Oh gods, no. And especially this! You have him providing so many services to you, why not one more?” She gave a mischievous grin.
I took a deep breath. “That’s not all, though.”
“More? That was some night.”
I hesitated, struggling with how to tell her about what happened next. Brie patiently took bites of her salad as she waited for me to collect my thoughts.
“Right after we finished… I was just trailing my hand down his face… and suddenly I was in his mind.”
Brie’s eyes narrowed quizzically. “What do you mean by that?”
“It was just like memory magic, only present tense. And I was still aware of myself and my own body. But I was also in his consciousness, hearing his thoughts, feeling his feelings, all of it.”
Brie set down her fork. “But you’re saying it just happened? You didn’t cast the spell that time?”
I shook my head. “It totally surprised me.”
“I’ve never heard of that,” Brie said, her wheels turning.
Her sentiment immediately echoed Astrea’s words last night, when my mother had been pointing out my ability to work new magic on pure instinct.
I had already shared the stories with Brie of my prior experiences with memory magic and Maddox. “Maybe there was a residual connection from the last two times?” she speculated. “Once you’ve built that bridge both ways, it might be easier for the connection to re-establish?”
“Maybe…” It was a plausible theory.
“Maddox must have wanted you in there, though? The memory magic doesn’t work without consent.”
“Yeah, he did.” I sighed. “I don’t think he knew it happened, but that was one of the main thoughts he was having, a wish that there was some way I could know his true feelings.”
“Well, that supports the residual connection theory.” Brie looked at me expectantly for half a second. “Well? Tell me what you saw in there! What were the true feelings he was dying for you to know?”
“I would have thought the only thing going on in there was a calculated plot,” I began. “My assumption was his only thoughts would be scheming to get out of the curse.”
Brie nodded. “I would assume the same.”
“But he wasn’t thinking about the curse at all.
He was only thinking about me, and how much he loves me, and how much he’s changed and would never be that guy again.
” I paused. “How much he wanted me to let him do this again. How much he wanted to say all that to me, but he knew his words were meaningless after his lies.”
Brie thought for a moment. “But you believe it now?”
“Not exactly. I believe at the moment I entered his mind, that’s who he was and what he was feeling.
” I took a deep breath. “But just at that moment. If there’s one thing I know about Maddox, it’s that he completely changes depending on who he’s with.
He might have ‘loved’ me last night, but I don’t think that would stop him from ‘loving’ some other woman just as much tonight, if my curse gave him the option. ”
I wasn’t as sure of that as I was making it look to Brie. But I didn’t want to reveal to her that—
“It sounds like you’re not as sure of that as you’d like me to believe,” Brie said plainly, interrupting my train of thought. Well, no sense trying to hide from her.
“You’re right. Because when I was feeling it through him, it absolutely felt like real love. It happened so suddenly, but in that moment, I didn’t doubt it at all.”
“That must have been confusing,” Brie observed.
“Yes. Extremely. But I just have to remind myself that what I felt must have been his distorted subjective perception. The only reason it felt real is because it felt real to him. And since I know he does not understand what real love is, it really doesn’t matter how it feels to him.”
“That seems like a reasonable conclusion.” Then, she gave another wicked smile. “So, are you going to add oral to the regular menu of his duties?”
“Were you listening to the rest of the story after that? I don’t want any more time in his mind!”
“So just make sure you don’t touch his face. And then you can enjoy only the fun part. And you know for sure he’s into it, so you don’t have to worry you’re exploiting your ‘servant.’ The man is hoping for more.”
I returned Brie’s smile. “Well, you make a good case for it.”
“Perfect,” Brie declared, raising her teacup in a mock toast. “You already have him serving you dinner every night. Now you’re just adding some dessert.”
For about the millionth time, I thought how lucky I was to have a friend like Brie.
I had come to this lunch totally spinning out, so worried about the implications of what Maddox’s thoughts had revealed.
But Brie had such a calm and reasonable way of breaking things down.
I felt so much more relaxed about the situation now.
The rest of our lunch passed with Brie giving me fascinating updates about her work, and the slow but meaningful progress her team was making on their test cases for establishing the legal rights of familiars among humans.
As we finished our meal and settled the check, I felt unburdened.
The walk back to the convention center hotel was short and pleasant, the sun warm on my shoulders as we strolled down the stone path and chatted.
When we reached the lobby, Brie and I paused just inside the entryway.
I’d instructed Maddox to meet me here to pick up the bags from my morning shopping, but we were a few minutes early.
“Feeling optimistic about today?” Brie asked, gesturing toward the convention center wing.
“I am,” I said, and I was pleased that it felt so genuine.
But suddenly, I heard a derisive female voice behind me. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the wife.”
I turned and was shocked to find myself face-to-face with someone I had previously only ever seen completely nude.
In her sexts to my ex-husband.
Gwen grinned at me with malevolent delight. “I’m so happy to meet you, Callie. I know your husband very well. We’ve been fucking and laughing at you behind your back for years.”